Gobble, gobble Jackets style - power play kills Jackets again  (11/26/08)
by Dave Seaman, Columbus Wired

The Columbus Blue Jackets need an early Christmas gift in the worst way—a right-handed shot on the power play.

With the Jackets unsuccessful in eight power play chances Wednesday night, the Phoenix Coyotes defeated the home team 3-2 with a goal from Viktor Tikhonov with 2:32 remaining in the game.

The Coyotes buried a power play goal of their own and it proved to be the difference. Columbus had a two-man advantage for nearly a minute late in the game but was unable to get an open shot because Phoenix was defending the five left-handed shooters.

“We couldn’t get it done and it’s unacceptable,” said Jason Chimera, who scored a goal said. “In a 2-2 game there has to be more urgency to score goals and guys are put out there for a reason—to score goals.”
 

Kristian Huselius had five break-a-ways and only converted once.

Dan Carcillo and Dave Hale also scored for Phoenix, who broke a six-game losing streak.

“We didn’t play as good as (Columbus),” Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. “They played, I thought, a very good hockey game against us and we ended up winning the hockey game.”

The game came at a cost for Columbus. Derek Dorsett broke a finger in a first-period fight with Dan Carcillo and is out indefinitely according to Hitchcock. After the game, the team put Dorsett on the injured reserve and recalled defenseman Kris Russell from Syracuse.

Huselius took a feed from Fedor Tyutin off a Coyote turnover and skated in from center ice to beat Phoenix backup goaltender Mikael Tellqvist off the pads to put Columbus up 1-0 just over eight minutes into the game.

Hale tied the game at one off a feed from Kyle Turris at 9:41 of the second. The goal ended a shutout streak of 112 minutes, 53 seconds for Jackets goaltender Steve Mason.

Phoenix then took the lead two and a half minutes later on the power play. Carcillo redirected a Keith Yandle shot from the right point over the shoulder of Mason.

Columbus got the goal back one minute into the third period as Chimera beat Tellqvist stick side off a pass from R.J. Umberger on a two-on-one break.

In the third period, Columbus had four power play chances, including a two-man advantage for 54 seconds.

Shane Doan dug the puck off the back wall and backhanded a pass to Tikhonov, who was skating from right to left along the goal line. He deked with the puck and slid it past Mason, who was not tight on the near post.

“It would have been nice to score on one of those power plays we had (in the third) and then we just had the breakdown…and that’s my fault,” Jackets defenseman Mike Commodore said. “It’s not a good feeling.”

Tellqvist had 38 saves.